Cardinal Bergoglio reminds bishops that Church unity is achieved through service

Buenos Aires, Argentina, Nov 9, 2006 / 12:00 am (CNA).- In his remarks at the opening Mass of the 92nd Plenary Assembly of the Bishops’ Conference of Argentina, Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, president of the body, said unity in the Church is achieved through service.

In his homily, the cardinal said, “a pastor attains and amasses the unity of his people” through service, “seeking the interests of Christ Jesus and not his own.” He explained that unity is achieved through sincere love and humility that sees “others as superior,” and not through a spirit of discord and vanity.

Likewise, the cardinal recalled that “unity in the Church is a grace” and a “pure gift of the Lord.”

Cardinal Bergoglio invited the bishops to follow Mary’s example of service. Embracing the attitude of Mary, “the first disciple, will give us the paternal ‘tenderness’ and the fraternal ‘compassion’ to exhort our people and to exhort ourselves to make our joy perfect ‘by remaining very united’.”